2 



BACCALAUREATE ADDRESS, 



DELIVERED 



AUGUST 11, 1834, 



THIRD ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 



UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA. 



BY ALVA WOODS, D. D, 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY. 



^^^^of co^s^^^^ 



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PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES. 



1834. 



l^i T -: 



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5 



ADDRESS. 



Young Gentlemen of the Graduating Class, 

By the kind providence of that Being, who never slum- 
bers, we are brought to the close of another College year : — 
and I now appear before you to give you the parting hand, and 
to bid you God speed in the way that lies before you. 

It cannot have escaped your observation, that youth espe- 
cially are prone to indulge in the illusions of hope ; — prone to 
lend a wiUing ear to every whisper of fancy, and to imagine 
that the brightest visions of bliss now flitting before them will 
be speedily followed by the fulness of fruition. With this 
natural proneness you may sometimes have seen associated a 
self-confidence, which .spurns restraint, which disposes its pos- 
sessor to think himself too wise to learn, too knowing to take 
advice, and which is the precursor of an early downfall. You 
all, no doubt, have learned this lesson, that the counsels of a 
Mentor are most needed when least desired. Could youth be 
induced to seek and to heed the counsels of friendship and of 
maturer years, they might in a measure supply the want of 
experience, escape many a danger, and avoid many a sad dis- 
appointment. Whatever may be the event, it is the duty of 
every parent and every teacher, to give such counsels, and to 



accompany them with the earnest prayer that they may exert 
a salutary influence on the future destiny of those committed to 
his charge. 

Much of your future comfort and usefuhiess will depend upon 
a right choice of the profession or pursuit which is to engage 
your attention through subsequent life. Should you make a 
mistake here, the consequences will be disastrous not only to 
yourselves, but to those with whom you may be associated. 
But if you wisely select a calling for which you are fitted by 
your natural talents and temperament, by your habits, by your 
intellectual attainments, and, above all, by your moral qualities, 
you may safely promise yourselves an honorable and a success- 
ful career. At least, if you fail, the fault will be in yourselves ; 
the fault will be, that you do not put forth those exertions with- 
out v/hich a man will not and cannot succeed in any under- 
taking. 

Before you determine, then, on the choice of a pursuit? study 
well your own character. Consider not only in what you ex- 
cel, but in what you are deficient ; not only what you can do, 
but what you can endure. Look not only to the strong but to 
the weak points of your character. Remember that in whatev- 
er sphere you may move, your Creator has destined you to un- 
dergo a moral discipline ; that your integrity is to be tried, and 
all your moral virtues are to be tested, again and again. 

Compare, then, the advantages and the disadvantages of any 
calling which invites your attention. Consider the labors which 
you will have to perform, and the temptations you will have to 
resist. Look not only to the emoluments of the calling, but to 
the opportunities of usefulness which that calling may afibrd 
you. In short, select that vocation for life, in which you will 
probably be able to combine the greatest amount of personal 
virtue and of personal enjoyment, with the greatest amount of 
usefulness to your fellow men. 

Do any of you propose to embark in the practice of the Law ? 
Weigh well the responsibilities which you assume. Remember 
you will be called to defend the personal rights, the property, 
the reputation, the lives of your fellow citizens. And should 



you prove yourselves worthy of the literary advantages which 
you have here enjoyed, you may be called to the Legislative 
Hall, to frame laws for the government of your state, perhaps 
of your country. The dearest interests of your fellow men may 
turn upon the extent and the accuracy of your legal attainments. 
Upon your professional eminence, the welfare of your country- 
men may greatly depend. You may yet be called to act as the 
Judges of Constitutional Law ; and on your decisions may 
hang the liberties and the lives of your fellow men. Be not 
desirous, then, of obtaining speedy admission to the practice of 
such a profession ; but be mainly anxious tliat, when you are 
admitted, you shall be fully qualified to meet your high respon- 
sibilities ; and to take rank with the most eminent men of your 
profession. This is the profession which may be regarded as 
the high road to civil office and to civil honors. But, as you 
value your permanent reputation and usefulness, attempt not 
to purchase the offices in the gift of a free and enhghtened 
people with any thing but sterling worth of character, a thor- 
ough knowledge of your profession, with untiring devotion to 
its duties, and unbending patriotic virtue. With these qualifi- 
cations, your success in life may be pronounced morally certain. 
In fine, let me intreat you, as you value your peace in a future 
day, never sacrifice the immutable principles of recthude for the 
sake of gain. Never strive, like Milton's Belial, to 

• make the worse appear 



The better reason, to perplex and dash 
Maturest counsels." 



Consecrate your talents solely to the cause of innocence, of 
truth, of justice, and eternal right. Let your maxim ever be, 
" Fiat jusiitia, mat cmlum." In an English work, just issued 
from the American press, " Dymond's Essays on the Principles 
of Morality," you will find a chapter on the Morality of Legal 
Practice, worthy your most attentive perusal. 

Do any of you propose to engage in the practice of Medi- 
cine ? Consider that the care of the health and the life of your 
fellow men, is a trust of no ordinary m.agnitude. Beware that 



6 

that health and that life are never sacrificed through your igno- 
rance or your inattention. Qualify yourselves, then, for the 
high duties of your calling, by private studies, by attendance 
on public lectures, by a close observation of all the phenomena 
of disease, and by combining the results of your own observa- 
tion with the wisdom and experience of the ablest practitioners 
in the healing art. 

Investigate also the causes as well as the phenomena of dis- 
ease ; that you may be able, not only to cure, but to prevent 
maladies ; and thus to render yourselves benefactors to your 
race. Examine well all those physical and moral causes which 
affect the health of individuals and of whole communities, that 
you may be able to decide how far those causes are to be re- 
moved by individual efforts, by municipal regulations, or by 
more general legislative enactments. Study well the physical 
constitution of man ; and make yourselves familiar with all 
those laws which govern a diseased or a healthy action of the 
human system. In a word, pursue this profession, not merely 
as a source of personal emolument, but as a means of useful- 
ness to society. The Medical profession, when founded on an 
accurate knowledge of the complex nature of man, and pursued 
on broad and liberal principles, is a rational, noble profession. 
It contains within itself one of the most important elements of 
human happiness, that is, a sufficient amount of mental and 
bodily activity. It also opens a wide field for the exercise of 
the benevolent affections. The consciousness of laboring, and 
laboring successfully, to relieve distress and alleviate woe, must 
impart permanent gratification to the mind, and elevate a man 
in his own estimation, as well as in the estimation and gratitude 
of his fellow men. 

Should any of you, at any time, propose to enter upon the 
duties of the Christian Ministry, examine well the motives by 
which you are actuated to undertake an office of the most aw- 
ful responsibility. Take heed that no selfish or sinister consid- 
erations sway your mind. Look not for those emoluments and 
those worldly honors, which are to be obtained in the other 
professions. For the reward of your toils, you must look mainly 



to your own breast, and to the retributions of a future world. 
Consider that the well-being of your fellow men, not only for 
this life, but for that life which shall never end, is at stake ; that 
on your fidelity eternal consequences may be suspended. 

Spare no pains, then, to prepare yourselves for this high vo- 
cation by useful knowledge, by a diligent study of the Book of 
God, by eminent piety, and, above all, by seeking constantly 
the guidance and blessing of the great Eternal. Fix on a lofty 
standard for your attainments and for your efforts. In a pro- 
fession which involves the destinies of man, not only in this but 
in another world, all the learning of a Paul, and all the elo- 
quence of an Apollos, you will find not too much ; and you will 
find it all infinitely too little, without the special benediction of 
Almighty God resting upon your labors. 

Do any of you propose to engage in the profession of Teach- 
ing ? Imagine not that inferior talents and inferior attainments 
are sutficient for the duties of this calling. Do we require skill 
and experience in those who propose to take care of the health 
of the body, and are less skill and experience necessary in those 
who undertake to watch over the health and the growth of the 
mind ? Does an intelligent parent seek to employ in his service 
mechanics and artisans who understand well the business which 
they profess, and will he give the formation of the minds of his 
children into the hands of ignorant, of prejudiced, or of unprin- 
cipled men ? There is, indeed, reason to fear that many parents 
are not sufficiently impressed with the vast importance of this 
subject ; that they do not see how much their own comfort and 
happiness, and how much the comfort and happiness and use- 
fulness of their children, depend on the character of those to 
whom their education is committed. Hence teachers are often 
employed without sufficient regard to their literary and moral 
qualifications. 

Is there not also reason to fear that the importance of this 
subject to the welfare of our country is often overlooked ? If 
it be acknowledged that intelligence and virtue are essential to 
the permanent prosperity of a republic, what can be more im- 
portant to the welfare of our beloved country, than the instruc- 



tion of the rising generation ? This, then, is the profession, 
which, in these United States, ought to enhst and employ the 
highest order of intellect, and the highest attainments in htera- 
ry and moral excellence. If it be better for individuals and for 
society to prevent crime than to punish it, then is that office of 
the very first importance, which requires a man, in the discharge 
of its duties, to enlighten the youthful mind and to inculcate a 
love of virtue and an abhorrence of vice. 

While this office is wholly unknown, or lightly esteemed 
among the more barbarous nations, it is held in the highest 
veneration among the enlightened. In the brightest days of 
the glory of Greece, you find the instructers of her youth rank- 
ed among the illustrious, the revered, and the honored men of 
the country. Go to the most polished nations of Europe at 
this day, and you find their philosophers and teachers associat- 
ed with the great and the noble and the virtuous of the land. 
Indeed, you may judge of the progress which any community 
has made towards a state of general intelhgence and high cul- 
ture by the respect which they render to men of learning, and 
by the estimation in which they hold the office of an Instructer 
of youth. 

It is believed, that there is at this time, in our country, a call 
for an additional number of well qualified teachers ; and that 
the time is at hand when the labors of such teachers will be 
duly appreciated and liberally remunerated. Should any of 
you, then, engage in this profession, act in a manner worthy of 
its dignity and importance. Acquaint yourselves with all the 
improved methods of teaching. Review carefully and extend 
your knowledge of Mental Science. This science is the founda- 
tion of the Art of Teaching : and a man ignorant of this sci- 
ence, will inevitably fail as a teacher. You know that the phe- 
nomena of the mind are regulated by certain fixed laws, as 
much as are the phenomena of the material universe ; and that 
it is only by understanding these laws, and acting in accordance 
with them, that the mind can be successfully educated. You know 
that we cannot arbitrarily introduce ideas into our own minds ; — 
that they are introduced according to those laws of suggestion 



which regulate the succession of thought. You know that we 
cannot force our own opinions or our own behef ; — that these 
must be the result of facts and of evidence presented to the 
mind. Much less, then, can we extend such arbitrary power 
over the minds of others. Avail yourselves, also, of the expe- 
rience of those who have gone before you. And from your own 
daily experience and observation, add something to the general 
stock of improvement in the method of teaching. In a word, 
as your profession is inferior to none in dignity and value to 
the community, let it be inferior to none in the ability and un- 
tiring fidelity with which its duties are discharged. 

Do any of you propose to become Civil Engineers ? It is an 
employment of great and growing importance to our wide-spread 
and prosperous republic ; and an employment in which me- 
chanical genius and scientific attainments may secure for their 
possessor ample rewards. The vast and fertile valley of the 
Mississippi, from the Lake cf the Woods to the Gulf ol' Mex- 
ico, and from the Alleghany to the Rocky Mountains, is yet to 
be intersected with rail-roads and canals, giving facility of trans- 
portation to all the varied fruits of our own industry and to the 
productions of foreign climes. The construction of those works 
of internal improvement will call for bold enterprise and for 
mathematical talent. In erecting such works of public and gen- 
eral utility, an able engineer may at the same time build up his 
own fame and fortune, and identify his name with the prosper- 
ity and glory of his country. 

Read the story of the eminent English engineer, Brindley, 
and imitate his untiring perseverance under difficulties. The 
three thousand miles of British canal navigation, the production 
of the last seventy years, and all the additional prosperity which 
that navigation has given to the British nation, may be regard- 
ed as the fruits of the unconquerable genius of James Brindley. 

But should you not engage in any of the professions already 
named, imagine not that the education which you have here 
received will be useless to you. There are many other pur- 
suits in which knowledge, intelligence, and moral worth, are 
duly appreciated and amply rewarded. 



10 

The fair merchant, who by honest gains acquires a livelihood 
for himself and family, does at the same time render a service 
to the community. 

The industrious farmer, who by the sweat of his brow gets 
his daily bread, and who produces bread for the consumption of 
others, is a public benefactor. Of all employments, agriculture 
is the most indispensable, the most healthful, and the most inde- 
pendent. It is the employment in which the greater portion of 
the inhabitants of this country will always engage. This pur- 
suit, by giving activity to the powers both of body and mind, 
by removing individuals from scenes of vice and sources of dis- 
ease in the crowded city, by securing moderate, not enormous, 
gains, as the fruits of industry, is highly favorable to moral char- 
acter and to mental enjoyment. This is the employment 
which is to furnish materials for the manufacturer, wdiich is to 
produce articles for commerce, and to which mankind must look 
principally for the supply of their necessary wants. And there 
is little danger of its being crowded to excess, as is the case in 
most countries with what are peculiarly denominated the Pro- 
fessions. The author of a very recent English work, entitled 
" England and America," asserts that two thirds of the profes- 
sional men in England live by snatching the bread out of each 
other's mouths. 

Now the more general intelligence a farmer, or mechanic, or 
merchant, possesses, the better is he qualified to promote his 
own interests and the interests of that community in which he 
resides. Should he be called by his fellow citizens to fill some 
public office, will he not be able to do it with more satisfaction 
to himself, and with more benefit to the community, from his 
having enjoyed the advantages of education ? With such ad- 
vantages, he will, even as a private citizen, be a more efficient 
and useful member of the body politic, in a country like ours, 
in which every man may participate in the affairs of the gov- 
ernment. 

In whatever employment, then, young gentlemen, you en- 
gage, you may find the education, which you have here re- 
ceived, of essential value. And never think it a degradation to 



11 

engage in any employment by which 5^011 can be made com- 
fortable and happy, and at the same time useful to society. 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise : 
Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 

And here let me exhort you, when you have with due delib- 
eration chosen your profession or pursuit, be steadfast in your 
purpose. Fickleness is one of the principal causes of failure 
to young men of talents and education. Thrown upon the 
ocean of life, instead of pressing "with lusty sinews and with 
hearts of controversy" for the distant point which they desire 
to reach, they allow themselves to be drifted about to every 
point of the compass, just as the wind or the wave may take 
them. Instead of making circumstances bend to them, they 
bend to every circumstance. Do they find the pursuit which 
they have selected a laborious or difficult one — and what pur- 
suit is there which has not its labor or difficulty — they soon 
abandon it for another which is deemed more pleasant. In this 
too they find trials, and vexations, and disappointments ; and 
are soon allured off to some other calling which seems to prom- 
ise a shorter road or an easier way to wealth, to fortune, or to 
fame. Thus their life is wasted away, without accomplishing 
any thing valuable for themselves, for their friends, or for their 
country. Had it not been for this fickleness of disposition in 
the poet Burns, which rendered him discontented with the 
peaceful enjoyment of a country hfe, he might never have 
" dwindled," to use his own language, " into a paltry excise- 
man, and slunk out the rest of his insignificant existence in the 
meanest of pursuits, and among the lowest of mankind." 

In a person of hberal education, it would be reputable and 
desirable to possess some general acquaintance with the various 
professions and pursuits of civilized man : but to attempt more 
than this would prevent the attainment of success in any one. 
It is only by giving the principal attention and energies to one 
pursuit, that a person can rationally hope for eminent success ; 
and it is in this way too that he can render himself most useful 
to the community. Whatever knowledge, then, of a general 



12 

nature you may possess, remember that your success in life, 
your respectability, and your usefulness, will depend upon your 
thorough knowledge of your own profession and your untiring 
devotion to it. Soar aloft, then, to the heights of professional 
eminence, " with an eye that never winks, and a wing that 
never tires." Jn a word, adopt, as yours, a motto which I once 
beheld over the gate of the Abbe Rozier, at Lyons in France, 
" Laudate magna rura, Colite exiguumy 

Young gentlemen, before concluding this address, I deem it 
my duty to make some suggestions of a more strictly moral na- 
ture. 

I would call your attention, then, to the indissoluble connec- 
tion which exists between cause and effect in the moral world. 
My object is not to give you a metaphysical dissertation on the 
theory of causation ; but to offer a ^e\N observations which may 
be of practical utility in the conduct of Hfe. 

In the natural world, we are ready to acknowledge the con- 
nection between causes and effects, between means and ends. 
We do not expect to see in the horizon the beautiful rainbow, 
unless there be the falling shower and the shining sun. Our 
planters do not expect their land to produce an abundant cot- 
ton crop without cultivation. The mariner would not hope to 
reach the far distant port, unless he were to spread his sails to 
the winds of heaven. 

But do we not often see persons expecting to be wise with- 
out knowledge, learned without application, rich without dili- 
gence, healthy without temperance, happy without virtue, and 
saved without holiness ? The gambler, with the fell purpose 
of enriching himself by the impoverishment of others, the epi- 
cure with his luxurious living, the drunkard with his bowls, the 
debauchee with his guilty pleasures — each promises himself 
health, and peace, and happiness ! See yonder youth entering 
into a profession, which calls for ceaseless vigilance. He folds 
his arms in indolence, passes his time with idle loungers, relies 
upon the patronage of his friends, or trusts to some good luck 
in his stars, and then wonders at his want of success- He can- 



13 

not tell why fortune does not pour into his lap the horn of 
plenty, or crown his brow with the laurel wreath. He prays, 
perhaps, for prosperity ; but, to use the language of the fable, 
he does not put his own shoulder to the wheel. Suppose that, 
contrary to all reasonable expectation, professional success at- 
tends him ; will it not find him unfitted to enjoy it, and desti- 
tute of those habits which would enable him to turn it to good 
account ? Will not his prosperity come upon him like a great 
prize obtained in a lottery, which generally ruins him who ob- 
tains it ? 

This inattention to the connection of means with ends is espe- 
cially observable in moral conduct. How often do you see a young 
man entering on life, who appears entirely to overlook the fact 
that every moral action has its effect ; that that effect is good 
or bad according to the character of the action ; that the effect 
follows the action as surely as a shadow follows its substance. 
Because the effect is not always to be seen immediately, he 
does not trace the effect to the action as its cause. He seems 
not to perceive that long continued integrity will certainly in- 
spire confidence in his character ; and that dishonesty and false- 
hood will as certainly secure contempt and indignation ; that 
vicious practices will always, in one way or another, produce 
misery ; that if the effect be delayed, if the day of retribution 
be postponed, it is only that it may come with accumulated 
vengeance. On the other hand, he seems to forget that the 
rewards of virtue can be purchased only with virtue herself; 
and that these rewards will as certainly accompany virtuous 
conduct as day accompanies the rising of the sun. 

This law, young gentlemen, which binds the effect to its 
cause, which hnks together by an indissoluble bond happiness 
with virtue, and misery with vice, is the great conservative prin- 
ciple of the moral world. It is this which holds together the 
elements of the moral universe ; this which binds man to 
duty and to God. Destroy this law, and you uproot the very 
foundations of all government, and throw into one universal 
chaos the whole rational creation of the Almighty. 



14 

If, then, you wish to avoid evil and obtain good, weigh v;ell 
the consequences of your actions ; and be governed by a pru- 
dent foresight of those consequences. En) ploy those means 
whose tendency is to produce the ends which you desire, and 
to lead you on to peace and prosperity ; and avoid those causes 
which bring after them disappointment, shame, remorse, and all 
the ills that follow in the train of imprudence, folly, and vice. 
Consider, when you are performing an action, you may be lay- 
ing a train of consequences which will run far into futuritv, 
which may extend through the whole of your earthly life, per- 
haps through the interminable ages of your existence ! 

Finally, young gentlemen, let me urge upon your attention 
the importance of personal religion. Its benefits are not con- 
fined to that life which is to come. It has a close connection 
with that kind of prosperity in this hfe, which is most desirable. 
It enhances the pleasure of worldly enjoyments by inducing us 
to use them with moderation. It preserves its votaries from 
those wasteful expenditures which dissipate property, and from 
those habits of vice and immorality which undermine the phys- 
ical constitution, which destroy peace and tranquillity of mind, 
and which sap the foundations of character. It is this which 
gives true dignity and elevation to our nature; which qualifies 
us to enjoy prosperity with gratitude, and to bear adversity with 
fortitude. Let me exhort you, then, in the language of Lord 
Chatham to his nephew, while at the LTniversity of Cambridge, 
*' Hold fast by this sheet-anchor of happiness, rehgion ; you 
will often want it in times of most danger, the storms and tem- 
pests of life. Cherish true religion as preciously as you will fly, 
Vi'ith abhorrence and contempt, superstition and enthusiasm. 
The first is the perfection and glory of human nature ; the two 
last the depravation and disgrace of it." 

And here, in passing, let me intreat you ever to avoid all 
hypocritical pretences in matters of religion. Let no consider- 
ation ever induce you to profess to be what you are not. Re- 
member that our Saviour's heaviest maledictions were pronounc- 
ed upon hypocrites ; upon those who, with professions of un- 
common sanctity, were the secret workers of iniquity. 



15 

Again said Lord Chatham to his nephew, '•' If you are not 
right towards God, you can never be so towards man." Does 
any one persuade you that it is tlie part of weakness or igno- 
rance to be a behever in rehgion ? regard him not. It is prob- 
able that he has never examined the evidences of our religion, 
or made himself acquainted with the claims which it has to the 
homage of mankind. He cannot have known with what an 
array of talent and learning Christianity has been vindicated 
from the attacks of its enemies. 

Was the late Baron Cuvier a competent witness as to the 
credibility of the Scripture account of the creation of the world ? 
Who has equalled him in a knowledge of Geology, Zoology, 
and of the Organic Remains of a former world ? No one, who 
has visited the Garden of Plants at Paris, will call in question 
the extent and accuracy of his attainments in Natural Science. 
But Cuvier maintains that the order which the cosmogony of 
Moses assigns to the different epochs of creation, is precisely 
the same as that which has been deduced from geological con- 
siderations. 

Was Sir Humphrey Davy, a President of the Royal Society 
and the most eminent chemist of the present century — was he 
weak and ignorant when he affirmed, " I should prefer a finn 
religious belief to every other blessing ?" 

' Will you go to Sir Isaac Newton, whose powers of reasoning 
have never been surpassed, whose sublime discoveries have 
never been equalled by the most towering genius, and who di- 
rected his powerful intellect to the investigation of moral as well 
as of physical science ? You find him an humble behever 
in the Christian faith ; and the Bible a constant companion of 
his ripest years. 

Will you go to our beloved Washington, who was first in the 
council, first in the field, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men? Was he a man of wisdom, of sound mind, and of dis- 
criminating judgment ! Follow him to his most secret retire- 
ments, and you find him kneeling at the altar of Christianity, 
and bowing his soul in humble adoration to the Father of his 
spirit. 



16 029 943 593 3 # 

But why do I appeal to human authority, when we have a 
Teacher who is greater than Solomon, and wiser than the wis- 
est of our race ? The day is coming, in which the opinion of 
your fellow men, in every thing pertaining to duty and salva- 
tion, will weigh in your estimation lighter than the dust of the 
balance. Be not, then, deluded out of your religion by the 
raillery of the skeptical or by the scoffs of the impious. As 
you value rational happiness in this life, and eternal felicity 
hereafter, place yourselves under the guidance of the great 
Christian Teacher and Lawgiver ; and receive from Him, with 
all docility, the lessons of heavenly wisdom. Make His moral- 
ity the standard of your actions, and rely on that propitiation 
which He has made*for sin for your hopes of eternal salvation ; 
and you will enjoy in this life that degree of success and pros- 
perity which is best for you, and in the future world a glorious 
immortality will be your portion. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS #| 



029 943 ML3 



